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Proportions
Modern Ideal
Index of Terms
Girdle & Culet
Polish & Symmetry
Fancy Shapes
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Girdle and Culet
Aside from Depth and Table, there are several other areas that a diamond's cut can be classified by.
The first quality is the Girdle. The term "Girdle" usually refers to the average thickness of the diamond. The chart
to the right shows the eight different levels that a girdle can fall into (the chart shows the relative girdles under magnification). Often the girdle will be a range, such as Medium to Slightly Thick
(M-STK). We at Jewelryzone tend to stay away from any stone that has a grade of either Extremely Thin (EXTN or EXTHN) or Extremely Thick (EXTK).
Beyond the actual size of the girdle, there is also the shape. A girdle can either be faceted or non-faceted. A faceted girdle is more
angular in it's design and has a sharper edge to it. Such stones will usually include an "F" in their listing. Neither style effects the cost
of the stone, it is mearly a matter of personal preference.
The Culet, or bottom point of the stone, is also measured according to it's size, as shown below.
| None | N, NO | Either a sharp point, or a white abraded point at 10x magnification. |
| Very Small | VS | Barely distinguishable at 10x magnification. |
| Small | S, SM | Difficult to see at 10x magnification. |
| Medium | M, MED | Octagonal outline visible at 10x magnification, invisible to the unaided eye. |
| Slightly Large | SL, SLG | Easy to see at 10x magnification, barely visible to the unaided eye. |
| Large | L, LG | Visible to the unaided eye. |
| Very Large | VL, VLG | Obvious to the unaided eye as a black spot in the table. |
| Extremely Large | EXL, EXLG | Octagonal outline obvious to the unaided eye. |
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Learn more about Cut
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